Utility: Reports lacking detail

By Terry Witt

A government utility executive conceded Monday he had not always given county water board members accurate or timely information, but said he didn’t do it intentionally, and he is correcting the problem.

Charles Sweat, operations director for the Florida Governmental Utility Authority, said the problem was not fraud, as he felt one member of the Water and Wastewater Authority (WWA) had suggested.

“I provided information provided to me and we have found that some of the information was questionable,” Sweat said.

FGUA owns and operates 11 community water and sewer systems in Citrus County. The county is preparing to buy the systems.

Sweat and other FGUA executives attended the WWA board meeting Monday.

To provide better information to WWA, Operations Manager John Dunty has been moved into a position to assure more accountability in field operations, Sweat said.

“We’re going to make sure we have enough people to do what they should be doing so we don’t have this conversation ever again,” Sweat said.

But WWA took measures of its own to ensure it receives accurate information on time. WWA voted unanimously to adopt its own system of tracking requests for information from FGUA and other utilities, as well as the responses.

Utilities Regulatory Director Robert Knight will document his requests for data and distribute them to WWA members. Sweat and his assistant, Bernadine Flood-Nichols, also will receive copies

FGUA will be expected to provide the requested information at least a week before the next regular WWA meeting. If the utility is unable to meet the deadline, utility officials must say when they will respond.

Sweat’s admission that not all the information he provided WWA was accurate or timely came moments after he had been criticized by some WWA members for failing to give them reliable answers to their questions about the way FGUA operates.

Alternate member Don Cox failed to win support for a motion to recommend that Sweat no longer serve as the FGUA’s contact person with the water board. Cox said Sweat had consistently given the board unreliable information, and he wanted him removed to avoid further problems.

However, Assistant County Attorney Michele Lieberman said WWA had no authority to enforce such a recommendation. She said FGUA is a governmental body, just like WWA, and it has no ability to control whom FGUA hires or fires.

“I don’t think we have any business meddling in the operations of FGUA. If they’re dissatisfied they can fire him,” Lieberman said.

Cox also tangled with FGUA attorney Brian Armstrong when Armstrong said Cox had overstepped his regulatory authority by doing independent research on FGUA. Armstrong said Cox had gone so far beyond the scope of his duties that he might be asked to remove himself from issues relating to FGUA.

“You’re not the judge, jury and executioner,” Armstrong said.

Cox shot back that he had gathered most of his information from FGUA records and he challenged Armstrong to tell him what was wrong with that.

“There was nothing on my part to go outside the information you provided,” Cox said.

There was good news from the FGUA discussions.

Sweat announced that permits had been secured to drill a well and build an expanded treatment plant in Sugarmill Woods. He said the well drilling crew should arrive on Thursday. He said the well is expected to have the capacity to pump 600 gallons of water per minute, but he won’t know the well’s true pumping capacity until tests are completed. He said it could exceed 600 gallons per minute.

Sugarmill Woods was one of the FGUA communities that began having pressure problems during drought conditions earlier in the year. Some community members were worried that the Chassahowitzka community water system might come on line before pumping capacity was added. Sugarmill will supply the water for Chassahowitzka.

GUEST OPINION: Groundswell is simmering over control of FGUA

By ROBERT ANDERSON


A spectator groundswell is simmering in their arena seats and approaching a low boil over what faction, public or private, to see who will assume control of Lehigh Acres water and sewer infrastructure in Lee County, either the county, East County Water Control District (ECWCD) or a private water/sewer service.

The Florida Governmental Utility Authority has demonstrated its inability to adequately address and correct matters as they relate to water, sewer availability, pressure, quality, hydrants, mains and house hookups. Thus, the county stated it might want to buy the faltering FGUA, in reaction to numerous consumer complaints, and ostensibly implying (but not officially stating) that it can do a better job. However, knowing now the ECWCD wants to study the idea of purchasing this infrastructure, ECWCD District Manager, David Lindsay has stated.

Also we have learned FGUA will not be using their $54,000 fine that they received last year in the project agreed to by FGUA, ECWCD and Lehigh Acres Watchdog Inc.

Instead doing a project with ECWCD in which allegedly harmed by FGUA dumping of efferent, FGUA is removing 14 citizens off septic on to sanitary sewer instead of the water quality project in Charlie Matheny Park that was agreed upon.



In the other corner another new player, Aqua Florida Utilities Inc., a 100 percent all-water company with almost a million customers in seven states. Aqua Florida Utilities has contacted Lehigh Acres Watchdog Inc. and wants to give detailed presentations to residents of issues and an outline what they have to offer and eventually plan to propose.

We, in Lehigh Acres, are the primary pawns, having ringside seats for this contest, and all of us long for the match to begin in earnest. However, it appears that the FGUA is reluctant to adhere to the rules of engagement. In fact, the only sparring we've seen so far has been disparagingly outside the ropes.

All the contestants agree that FGUA has failed on several levels of service. Thus, the question is which contender is most likely to satisfy, once and for all, the whole of our water and sewer needs? And, that is not to say that other top-rated companies can't throw their hats in the ring. After all, isn't the spirit of competition the bulwark of the American way?

On a more serious side, our cynicism is not intended to diminish in the least the gravity of the sad state of our water and sewer situation in Lehigh Acres.

Our group, and to a great extent the primary others, seeks to have a clean, clear, informative and fair airing from all sides.



That would also be with East County Water Control District that wants to a study on the feasibility them owning and operating the system, which isn’t too bad of an idea, but does the ECWCD have enough bonding ability to handle such a big debt or could Aqua Florida Utilities Inc. buy the system with cash.

To dispel the caveat lingering about, that because Aqua is a corporate, publicly traded utility, it would be merciless in clobbering us with higher rates.

This is a baseless, empty scare tactic, since we've been assured that every rate increase sought must be reviewed, assessed and approved by the Public Service Commission.

While our county commissioners have remained virtually silent on this issue, we nonetheless choose to refrain at this time from raising our voices an octave or two. Our objectives are rousingly clear and elegantly simple: to get the best and most efficient water and sewer service for our community at a fair cost.

Therefore, in a nutshell, we ask you, Lee County Commissioners, Board of Supervisors of the ECWCD and Aqua Florida Utilities to speak forthrightly to the citizens of Lehigh Acres, letting the real contest begin.

In the meantime, we remain squirming impatiently in our seats at ringside, waiting to hear what FGUA has to do to hinder this contest.

Water Worries ...........

(LEHIGH ACRES, FL) -- Rain water from Tropical Storm Ernesto could cost one local company a lot of money. Florida Govermental Utility Authority is being investigated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for spilling treated waste water into a Lehigh Acres canal.

The water treatment plant, stores treated water in holding ponds until the water evaporates or is absorbed into the ground. But, when Ernesto rolled through, the ponds filled up with too much rain water and overflowed into the canal that borders their property, which is illegal.

Barbara Kerby, spokesperson for FGUA assures Fox 4 that the water spilling into the canal is clean and will not hurt the environment. DEP says they have tested the water and could not find any fecal matter, infact they say the water was cleaner than the canal it poured into. However, that is not the issue, the fact of the matter is, FGUA is not permitted to release any water into the canal, and that is why they are being investigated.

This is not the first time this type of thing has happened either. Just last year, FGUA was fined over 50-thousand dollars for the same problem. Kerby says they are working on making sure this doesn't happen in the future. The company is building "Deep Well Injection" System, where more treated waste water can be stored in the future, but it won't be finished for a couple of years.

DEP is still investigating to determine whether or not the company will be fined again.

WATCHDOG STOPS FGUA Meeting --

President Robert Anderson STOPS FGUA from meeting do to FGUA inalibilty to print the legal notice of meeting in the local paper ------

Interest had in FGUA's systems (Citrus county)

Interest had in FGUA's systems
By Terry Witt


A Tallahassee attorney has contacted county government officials about the possibility of a private firm, rather than the county commission, buying the Florida Governmental Utility Authority’s local systems.

The county commission recently began preparing to purchase FGUA’s water and sewer utilities in Citrus County, but attorney Mike Twomey said his clients in Sugarmill Woods and Pine Ridge now believe Aqua America Inc. would better serve their interests.


Twomey and a representative of the company arranged for a meeting with County Commission Chairman Gary Bartell on Tuesday and sent all five commissioners a letter the same day explaining why Aqua America Inc. should own the systems.

The letter said Twomey’s clients, the Sugarmill Woods Civic Association Inc. and the Pine Ridge Property Owner’s Association, initially preferred county ownership to FGUA, but they now believe Aqua America is a better option.

“My clients believe Aqua America’s interest in purchasing FGUA’s assets in Citrus County represents a previously unavailable “best alternative,” Twomey wrote. “They believe this company’s long operating history and financial liquidity offer the clear best choice going forward and urge you to consider this option with the greatest haste consistent with proper due diligence. The water pressure problems evident now require expertise and capital, and Aqua America appears to have both.”

Twomey was referring to ongoing water-pressure problems in Pine Ridge and Citrus Springs, which are served by FGUA. Citrus Utilities has extended a county-owned water line to Pine Ridge to correct the pressure problems in the two communities.

The letter described Aqua America as “reportedly the nation’s largest U.S.-based, publicly traded water company, with some 2.5 million customers in 13 states, including Florida.”

“It has over a 100-year history of providing service, limits itself to water and wastewater operations, unlike FWS and seemingly has an excellent reputation with both its customers and Wall Street. In addition to its long history of operating community water and wastewater systems, Aqua America enjoys one clear advantage over the FGUA and Citrus County government: equity capital,” Twomey wrote.

The letters FWS refer to Florida Water Services Inc., the private company that sold its Citrus County utility systems to FGUA.

Twomey was the attorney who represented Sugarmill Woods when it successfully challenged the sale of FWS to a pair of Panhandle communities.

FWS sold its assets to FGUA instead, but FGUA has been plagued by consumer complaints in Citrus County about lack of accountability. Those complaints led county commissioners to begin the process of buying FGUA’s local systems.

Bartell said he listened to what Twomey and the unidentified Aqua America representative had to say, but he said it is too early to make any judgment about whether Aqua America should buy out FGUA.

He said it was his understanding Aqua America has such sound financial standing that it wants to purchase all of FGUA’s assets in Florida and would not have to borrow money to do it.

In his letter, Twomey said the company is private and its rates and operations would be regulated by the Citrus County Water and Wastewater Authority.

Bartell said the next move belongs to Aqua America, but he said there may be one complication.

The agreement between FGUA and the county, which gives the county the first option to purchase FGUA’s local utilities, is still in place. Bartell said he believes, but it not certain, that there would have to be a double transaction to make the sale to Aqua America a reality.

He said FGUA would have to first sell to the county, and then the county to Aqua America.

District, utility reacted poorly to school water crisis (Citrus County)

A Times Editorial
Published April 11, 2006

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Take hundreds of children and adults at two schools, turn up the heat on them for a week, drain off their drinking water and you have a recipe for a health disaster.

The Citrus school system narrowly dodged a bullet last week when students and staff members at Citrus Springs elementary and middle schools went all week without being able to drink water from the schools' fountains.

The utility in charge of providing water to the schools, the locally embattled Florida Governmental Utility Authority, cited the lack of rain recently plus the high demand for water from its customers in the Citrus Springs area as the reason for the low water pressure at the schools.

The schools had enough flow to operate the toilets, at least. The kitchen staff had to boil water in large kettles to purify it for use in preparing meals for the schools.

The worst, and most dangerous, effects were felt in the classroom where, amazingly, each room was given one gallon of bottled water per day to be rationed out one paper cup at a time to thirsty children.

Human beings under normal conditions require one half-gallon of water each per day, according to the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Children need more water, the agencies say. And the same heat that was blamed for the lack of water in the first place also meant that the active youngsters and adults needed more than a half-gallon of water to stay hydrated.

Instead, they got a ration of water in a cup, with a single gallon expected to slake the thirst of 20 or more children and adults for an entire school day.

The children, it seems, should be grateful they got even that much. Citrus Springs Middle School principal David Stephens said his staffers went out themselves and bought the bottled water, plus brought in coolers for ice to keep the jugs cold.

The staffers are to be commended for their response and resourcefulness. However, school officials dropped the ball by not immediately notifying parents of the water emergency. Parents certainly had every right to know about this situation so that, at the very least, they could send in some water jugs for their children's classrooms.

District officials, in turn, should have responded better and faster to the emergency by securing plenty of drinking water and trucking it to the schools.

A single-day loss of water from, say, a broken pipe would have been enough of a challenge for the schools' staffs. As the emergency stretched on for an entire week, it became a district problem.

Of course, the FGUA deserves most of the blame. The utility is responsible for supplying water to its customers every day, not just when the weather cooperates. It should have anticipated the need for more water based on the lack of recent rains and the higher number of customers.

There is a simple formula that would have proved useful. It's known as supply and demand.

The FGUA has had its share of problems in Citrus County lately, and county government is moving toward taking over the FGUA's Citrus County systems as a result. Leaving hundreds of children high and dry is no way for the FGUA to make a case for continuing its relationship with Citrus County.

The utility and the school system, of course, have no control over the weather. But they can and must be better prepared to respond when an emergency water shortage develops.

With the circumstances that created last week's crisis still with us, they will have ample opportunity to get it right the next time.

[Last modified April 11, 2006, 02:30:31]

Pine Ridge faces water woes (Citrus County)

By Laura Lee Putzback


Low water pressure in the Pine Ridge area has county officials scrambling to come up with short-term fixes until Florida Governmental Utility Authority can find a more permanent solution.

Citrus County Utilities will connect with FGUA water lines this weekend to help alleviate problems with low pressure in the FGUA system.

The low water pressure has also created a need for an emergency permit request for a new connection and for the Citrus County Fire Services division to increase its coverage in Pine Ridge.

A county construction crew will be working this weekend at County Road 486 and Pine Ridge Boulevard to connect FGUA to the Citrus County Utility System, according to Bruce Bates, Citrus County Utilities interim director.

Travelers on C.R. 486 will see little disruption as the work crew will bore under the road to install a 10-inch water line and its 20-inch protective casing. FGUA is responsible for reimbursing the county for any project costs incurred and for the water it uses.

Initially Richard Stover, Citrus County fire chief, was unaware of the current water problems in Pine Ridge. Once alerted, he took steps to get more information from FGUA.

“I feel for the safety of the citizens. It is necessary to move a 1,800 gallon tanker into Citrus County Fire Station 22 located in Pine Ridge,” Stover said. “It will stay there until the situation is resolved.”

Dozens of calls from FGUA customers this week alerted the water company and the Citrus County Office of Utility Regulation of problems.

Among the callers was Dennis Marshall, a retired mechanical engineer who moved to Pine Ridge in August 2005. He’s had intermittent problems with water pressure so he installed a gauge to monitor his home.

Marshall was disappointed with the FGUA’s emergency phone line. When he called to report 18 PSI (pounds per square inch) of water pressure and concerns about how it impacted the fire hydrant located on the corner of his property a recording announced, “FGUA emergency on call is not available right now. Please leave a detailed message after the tone.”

The readings at Marshall’s home have ranged from 10 PSI to 35 PSI since Monday. According to Bob Knight, Citrus County Office of Utility Regulation director, the DEP standard is not less than 20 PSI.

Bernadine Flood-Nichols, FGUA community service representative, indicates several reasons customers are experiencing problems. She cites the past four weeks of drought, a broken chlorine line on March 26, a main line break on Elkcam Boulevard the next day, an electrical problem with one of the pumps and pumping capacity as contributing factors to the problems residents are now experiencing.

FGUA has fixed all but the capacity issue. The county connection will offer short-term relief while the company works to install a new well in Pine Ridge during the next three months.

John Dunty, GSG (Government Services Group) project manager for FGUA is attempting to fast-track approval of the project’s construction contract, which was originally to be considered at the FGUA’s April 28 board meeting.

Until then, FGUA is taking steps to ensure sufficient water capacity. The company is targeting customers who are large water consumers.

“The FGUA does not have a clear definition of usage for customer accounts,” Flood-Nichols said. She analyzed customer water usage for February and March and customer account trends the past three years to identify high-end water users.

On Friday, the FGUA delivered conservation information to 255 of its 2,345 Pine Ridge customers and 30 of its 3,570 Citrus Springs patrons. Some on the list were using as much as 100,000 to 200,000 gallons per day.

“To take the stress off the system, we have issued an alert,” Flood-Nichols said. FGUA is asking all Citrus Springs and Pine Ridge customers to adhere to restricted irrigation times.

The other two utilities serving the Central Ridge area report no water pressure issues at this time, nor have they issued any special alerts.

Laura Lee Putzback is the editor of the Central Ridge Visitor.